Project:KOMAKINO debut EP;;

Fans of atmospheric post-punk are set for an excellent June, as Project:KOMAKINO - now a four-piece after the addition of synthesizer-player Andrew Hiles - have announced their debut release* on 12" vinyl. The self-titled EP will be released on Parlour Records, and will be the first recorded document of the four-piece band, who play Dice Club on 11th May and The Country Club (alongside The New Thing DJs) on the 23rd. See them, buy the EP, and support this exceptional new group.

*Long-term readers of The New Thing might remember our review of the one-man Project:KOMAKINO's limited debut EP in November, but that's apparently been erased from the records.

G&IW: The Future

With Neils Children playing fewer and fewer concerts, drummer Brandon Jacobs has a lot of time on his hands - and he's using it to make a major solo assault on the musical world in his Goodnight & I Wish guise. Having made his first appearance on a major stage supporting The Long Blondes, and after the release of his DIY debut EP Dreams...Wishes, and Fairy Tales on May 5th, he's due to release a single, 'So Much For The British Summertime' on June 23rd (three days after the summer solstice - a fitting release date if ever there was one). That's before beginning work on his debut album, due for the end of the year. A busy time, and not necessarily good news for the wellbeing of Jacobs' percussion commitments... but more of that later. For now, the future looks bright for twee lullaby-pop.

BAND SPOTLIGHT}} Dirty Snow

Dirty Snow are an enigma at first glance: a starkly monochromatic male/female duo, making atmospheric post-punk in the vein of Faith-era Cure - an influence they pay tribute to with a cover of 'All Cats Are Grey' - and under the influence of electronic music and shoegaze. It takes a little investigation to discover their origins in a gallery in Hackney in 1999 as a conceptual 'ghost band' founded by artists Esther Planas and Marc Hulson for the Five Years project. Since then they've played around London and Europe for nights including Decasia and Zoo Music. How The New Thing have missed them so far is largely due to their lack of publicity - this isn't a band so much as an experimental artistic project, with possibly the least commercial approach we've ever seen. That we haven't previously picked up on them is our mistake, since they make some of the best music we've encountered fresh for quite some time - and apparently their live appearances are even better. Discover them now to make up for nine years' worth of lost time.

Dirty Snow MySpace
Esther Planas (downloads &c.)

d.d.d.e.p.;

ddd have announced their first extended release: a three-track EP featuring new songs 'Drown', 'Concentration', and 'Spiral'. The first track on the forthcoming release can be heard on their MySpace now, and it's another modern classic of ruthless guitars and uneasy electronics. Based on recent live performances, the other two tracks should be just as good. Keep checking back for release details as and when they trickle in.

Hatcham Social..::..NEW SINGLE

Hatcham Social have announced preliminary details of their next single. The follow-up to the hugely successful 'So So Happy Making' has already been recorded with Faris Badwan and Andy Savours sharing the producer's chair, and the B-side is reputed to be a Beach Boys cover. More information on the upcoming single will appear here as soon as it reaches our ears, but in the interim you can have a butcher's at the brand new Hatcham Social forum, A Clearing In The Woods, and catch the band live as they support The Charlatans on their British tour next month, with Electricity In Our Homes and Ipso Facto also playing one support date each.

Horrors&N/C album news;;

Faris Badwan's made it known that The Horrors are planning to record their second LP in June. Having left Loog Records, the label on which they released Strange House, in favour of XL, the band will finish writing new songs before going into the studio, and hope to release not only the album but also one single before the end of the year. This could mean a later release date than the previously-announced September, but the band appear confident that the album will be worth the wait.

It's rumoured that Neils Children are also in the process of picking up the pieces of the unreleased Pop:Aural and recording a new album in a warehouse, without any kind of outside help. They claim to be heading in a more melodic direction, and with new single 'I'm Ill' currently advertised as 'coming soon', there could be a light at the end of the tunnel for fans of the group. More information, of course, when we get it.

Exp. Circ. Tent announces line-up;;

This year Essex's Offset Festival plays host to a tent curated by the Experimental Circle Club, and the line-up has just been announced: a veritable 'Who's Who' of the best new music from London and beyond. Included on the bill are...

Ulterior
S.C.U.M // Electricity In Our Homes
Eve Black/Eve White // I Am The Arm // ddd
Futurism Vs Passeism // Factory Floor // Micron 63
**K // S.I.N.S. (tbc) // ErrorOrchestra // Cementimental

Also included are DJs from London's The Sect and UFO Club, Brighton's Where To Now?, Nottingham's Noise*, Southend Kool Kids Klub, and Madrid's The Junkettes, as well as Exp. Circ. Club sounds and visuals.

The festival takes place in Hainault Forest (30 minutes from London on the Central Line) on 30th-31st August, and features another six stages with over one hundred artists yet to be announced - including some very special main-stage headliners still under wraps - as well as sideshows, stalls, and a zoo.

The full line-up is to be announced soon, and we've also been promised even more acts in the Exp. Circ. Tent, so earballs must, as ever, be kept open. Tickets go on sale on May 1st for £35. You cannot afford not to attend.

Micron 63 sign with DiscError;;

The newest artist to sign up to the DiscError roster is Micron 63. The industrial three-piece have not been around for long, but they have already supported Project:KOMAKINO and have garnered great attention for their driving electronic beats: the DiscError signing means they are now labelmates of Ulterior, raising speculation of a collaboration or support role. Watch out for the debut Micron 63 release over the next few months - it's sure to be good one.

Micron 63 MySpace

BAND SPOTLIGHT// AN EXPERIMENT ON A BIRD IN THE AIR PUMP

At last Electricity In Our Homes have been forced to relinquish their 'most annoying band name to type repeatedly' title. The first group we've ever heard of to be named after an 18th-century oil painting, An Experiment On A Bird In The Air Pump is a new project combining two talents: Lady Himalaya of Decasia Club and New Black Light Machine, and female electro-soul duo Eve Black/Eve White. With Ms Himalaya on bass guitar and the two Eves on stand-up drums and vocals respectively, the group make dark, minimal surf rock with soul vocals. It's a little like the aural version of a David Lynch film: atmospheric, scary, and arty as fuck... Catch them live at Decasia Club on 26th April supporting Factory Floor, or (better still - we're DJing) with Project:KOMAKINO at The Country Club Set in May.

Forthcoming releases;;;;

These New Puritans have announced the release of 'Swords of Truth' as the next single off LP Beat Pyramid. The video can be seen here; the single will come out on 5th May on 7" and 12" vinyl, as well as a digital download, with Angular Records in the UK and Domino worldwide. B-sides are yet to be announced.

Electricity In Our Homes, meanwhile, will also be releasing a new single next month. The release date is May 19th, the label is Waks/Too Pure, but other details are a little thin on the ground.

Finally, Billy Trivial is set to release his debut release, a 7" EP, on the Salvador Dali's Garden Party label in the summer.

That's about all for now. Further details...will be here.